Three-Dimensional Mineral Potential Mapping for Reducing Multiplicity and Uncertainty: Kaerqueka Polymetallic Deposit, QingHai Province, China

This study focuses on the selection of a method combining simulations of mineralizing processes with three-dimensional (3D) mapping to quantitatively predict locations of concealed mineralization and to reduce uncertainty and multiplicity. The simulation of ore-forming processes for concealed mineralization requires the assessment of a region’s structural geology, ages of lithological units, degree of metamorphism, and role of magmatism in the genesis of mineralization. The evolution of various factors affecting the development of geological processes in space and time is discussed, including the assessment of models combining regional deformation-magmatic activity-mineralized hydrothermal fluid based on empirical knowledge. Given that metallogeny is a study of the genesis and regional distribution of mineral deposits and emphasizes their spatial and temporal relationships, this paper uses empirical knowledge to predict the locations of concealed mineral deposits. Furthermore, the analysis of 3D geological modeling of concealed orebodies is a process that contributes to understanding the metallogenesis of mineral deposits. In this study of the Kaerqueka skarn and porphyritic deposits, geological, geographic, remote sensing and geochemical data collected from this region are processed using computer modeling techniques available in the Surpac software to establish a digital representation of the mineral field. The “block mapping modeling” theory, geostatistical methods, simulations of ore-forming processes, and 3D mapping methods are then combined to predict the locations of the most promising areas for concealed mineral deposits around the Kaerqueka deposit. This research introduces a new method for predicting and evaluating the locations of concealed orebodies by reducing multiplicity and uncertainty.